Star Trek III: The Search For Spock is the latest sci-fi movie to get the premium foil treatment

You couldn’t accuse the New Zealand Mint of dabbling with silver foils as they certainly seem to have committed to the fledgling format. Their Premium Silver Foil range in particular is one that is a long way from a traditional coin, but for the subjects the mint has in its portfolio – nobody has a more impressive list of licenced properties – they offer significant advantages.

The Star Wars 1 oz (31 g) poster coins have been popular, for example, but the same design when issued as a 35 gram premium foil sees its surface area grow from around 1,900² mm to a staggering 46,000² mm. That’s a 24-fold increase and if you’re showing something like a movie poster, that area makes for a far more satisfying experience – although not necessarily a more collectable one. The mintage is five times higher, and in the case of the Star Trek foils at least, carry no denomination, but for the movie memorabilia market, these are perfect. The super-thin fine silver sheet is sealed in an acrylic frame that can be displayed easily. They sell for $130.00 USD and are available now.

As you may have guessed, this is the third Trek movie and one perhaps not thought of quite as highly as the movie that came before it, or the one that came after. The middle of a trilogy that ended with The Voyage Home, this is nevertheless a great movie with Doc Brown chewing it up as a Klingon, and the destruction of the Enterprise. Lots of drama, and now dated special effects, it’s still a recommended watch for the sci-fi fan. Hopefully, these foils are popular enough to see the next three movies get the treatment in 2019. The sixth movie, The Undiscovered Country, is a particular favourite and a real gem of a film.

As for expanding the format to other movie franchises, it’s anyone’s guess at the moment.  With the Perth Mint soon to release a coin for that absolutely awesome movie Alien, the foil would seem a great way to have that ultra-iconic poster, and on a personal level, the Matrix trilogy would look great. As a New Zealand-based company, you would think the Tolkein movies would be high on the list, but the rights to those were held by the New Zealand Post. Let us know what you would like to see – We’re sure the mint would be interested and these foils are not difficult to produce.